Who can I finance with?!?!

[jay-bay]

tiblot, some people feel that being in debt is the "way to go" (ie. the OP) - to get what they want. It appears that some people are going into debt to buy a Tesla because it is the car they want. But they are not really prepared for sound financial advice and when to cash out an investment versus when to take a loan to use the money. I would wonder if the guy might have been thinking how he could tap his 401k to pay for it. If he has a 401k. Personally, I have a 0% car loan going now. Sure, it was a good idea at the time but then again, not buying a new car is also a great idea investment-wise. We mentioned Dave Ramsey above. His motto is buy a good 3-year old used car with moderately low miles. You can sometimes find one roughly half to 5/8 of the original MSRP. That is sound financial advice.

FYI - I don't feel like being in debt is the "way to go". I do have a 401k, kids college funds, currently no car payments, and a very good chunk in savings. I understand your assuming your opinion based on the fact that you know nothing about my financial history, and I will admit that yes, I want a Tesla; but I don't HAVE to have one. Sure, I can save up cash for it over time, but I was hoping to get it before December 31st, 2014 so I can receive the $7500 and $2500 tax incentives in April 2015.

"...not buying a new car is also a great idea investment-wise" Personally, I think anyone who sees a car as an "investment" to begin with, needs more financial advice than I do. lol

 

[karmamule]

Just for reference, I just got my finance proposal back from Tesla, all 10%+tax+fees down:

US Bank: 2.99%, 72 months
Wells Fargo: 2.24%, 60 months
Chase: 2.44%, 72 months

In addition, they do not require employment verification, or proof of assets. They're decision is based solely on my application answers and credit report/score. Hope this helps, and if anyone else wants to share, I'd like to know if i'm getting the best Tesla deal or not. I asked about if the interest rate could be lower since I plan on doing close to 40% down, but they said lower rates are available only for shorter terms. Since I'm putting quite a chunk down and would like the comfort of the buyback guarantee, I'll probably go with Chase. The lower payment will help in case we decide to move house in less than 3 years.

Ed

Hi Ed, I just applied today and got very similar info to you regarding lower rates being dependent on length of loan, not amount of down-payment.

I got the same Wells Fargo rate as you for 60 months, and 2.49% from them for 72 months. Chase was trivially lower for me at 2.39% for 72 months. For some reason they only sent my application to those 2, not US Bank. (US Bank didn't even ping my credit score so that's why I'm assuming that.)

Even though I have good credit I always get nervous when I apply, and this was the only step left that would possibly throw a serious monkey-wrench into my plans so I'm quite happy to have things all falling into place. My home wiring for a NEMA 14-50 was just finished up last week (despite the Tesla documentation my electrician initially assumed I really only needed 8 gauge wire, not 6, so he corrected that after I disagreed) and now with these two aspects in place it feels like the countdown has really begun.

I hope your purchase and delivery goes as smoothly as possible!